Infinity Plus Two edited by Keith Brooke and Keith Gevers
01/08/2003 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

pub: PS Publishing. 282 page hardback. Price: £15 (UK), $65.00 (US). ISBN: 1-902-880-58-7.

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One immediate thing that can be said about this book is that it will sell out regardless.

This is a limited edition with autographs of all the contributing writers ranging including Adam Roberts, Ian Mcdonald, Lisa Goldstein, Stephen Baxter, Michael Moorcock, Brian Stableford, Vonda Mcintyre, Charles Gross, Paul Park, Paul Mcauley, Eric Brown, Terry Bisson and Lucius Shephard in the frontispiece.

The stories have all appeared elsewhere in the past 3 years, although mostly in magazine format. As they’re from a diverse range, chances are you wouldn’t have seen most of them unless you were widely connected across the world.

Of course, that can also be considered a limitation as you’re also seeing what different editors bought and the prevailing thought that came about from other anthologies recently is very few of these stories have sharp endings.

This doesn’t necessarily degrade the quality of the stories content but can give a less than ‘I want to tell you about a story I read’ attitude afterwards.

Of these 13 short stories, my favourite has to be Terry Bisson’s ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ where a convicted child-murderer is persuaded to have a crucifixion after he experiences a vision of Christ.

This really is satire at its best and pin-points the worse of some American attitudes in only a slightly-in-the-future reality. ‘Emptiness’ by Brian Stableford is also an unusual character piece where a woman raises an abandoned vampire baby for a few weeks and experiences all of the stigma that goes with it. Paul Mcauley’s ‘The Rift’ illustrates the problems of upsetting the local inhabitants on a distant world.

Eric Brown’s ‘Dark Calvary’ is also another off-world piece where humans upset the local inhabitants shortly before their sun goes nova. A bizarre terrestrial religion where disfigurement and dismemberment is used to demonstrate an act of faith is equally disturbing but will have you riveted to this page.

There is enough diversity here to please everyone and I’ve probably only picked ones out that appealed to me the most.

With so many of PS Publishing’s books selling out quickly, I suggest you get your credit card ready and visit their website pronto.

GF Willmetts